Purnomo may be OPEC secretary general

Purnomo may be OPEC secretary general

Indonesian Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Thursday
he might be appointed acting Secretary-General of OPEC at the end
of the year, in addition to him taking over the rotating
presidency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

At their September meeting, OPEC ministers had agreed that if
the secretary-general post was empty at the end of December and
if there was no consensus on a replacement, then the OPEC
president would take the job on an acting basis, he said.

The minister said he hoped OPEC could reach a consensus on the
position.

Purnomo is due to take over the rotating presidency of OPEC at
the end of 2003, having been selected for the post at OPEC's
Sept. 24 meeting.

There are three candidates for the post - Venezuela, Iran and
Kuwait, he said.

"The majority is for Kuwait...to date, there is no consensus,"
he said.

Kuwait has nominated Adnan Shahib-Eldin, current director of
OPEC's research department, while Iran wants deputy oil minister
Hadi Nejad Husseinian. The current incumbent is Venezuela's
Alvaro Calderon Silva. -- Dow Jones